Show Summary

HERE'S LUCY. This often forgotten and critically bashed series from Lucille Ball, her 3rd, is arguably superior to the LUCY SHOW. Probably unjustly misaligned by critics due to a difficult and weak opening season, HERE"S LUCY improved with every season and contains some of the best work of Lucille Ball's career. The wonderfully abstract LUCY SHOW plays more as a variety show than sitcom, and certainly has its share of classic episodes. Missing from the Lucy Show, however, is the character development , focus, and warmth ( that made I LOVE LUCY so successful). HERE"S LUCY switches formats and focus' on widower Lucy Carter, single-working Mom and life with her two children (Ball's own children with Desi Arnaz), and their Uncle Harry. Played by Gale Gordon, Uncle Harry was also Lucy's over-bearing boss. As the seasons pass, Uncle Harry softens and Lucy, Kim, and Craig play more as a family unit. Like Lucy Ricardo, Lucy Carter still loved to get into the show, and her work at the "Unique Employment Agency" often allowed her the chance to sing and dance with top guest stars. Carol Burnett, Jack Benny, and Vivian Vance make numerous, nearly seasonal guest appearances, and other famous guests included Liz Taylor and Richard Burton, Flip Wilson, Ann-Margret, Johnny Carson, Milton Berle, Helen Hays, and Ginger Rogers. Still featuring Lucille Ball's amazing talents for physical comedy and turning a funny line, HERE"S LUCY features dozens of iconic "LUCY" moments. Lucy as down-trodden Dirty Gertie, Lucy wielding a jackhammer on cement, Lucy sky-diving through the roof of a lodge, the famous stuck-on-her-finger Liz Taylor diamond ring, Lucy in a giant pickle outfit, and Lucy and Mannix tied to chairs, physically jumping, bouncing the chairs to comedic perfection, and of course, the moment zany Lucy Carter meets superstar actress Lucille Ball! Many episodes are written by her I LOVE LUCY writers, as well as other tops-in-their field scribes such as Bob O'Brien, the Fox-Jacob's team, and Lou Derman (many of these writer's were presenting their best work simultaneously to ALL IN THE FAMILY). Even with numerous top directors at the helmï¿½Herbert Kenwith, Jerry Paris, Jack Donohue, Jay Sandrich, and Coby Ruskinï¿½ it is often repeated that Lucille Ball really directed the shows, but offered deference to the directors she most trusted and respected. This show is rarely seen in syndication despite relatively high ratings during the intital run (Season 1 #9, Season 2 #6, Season 3 #3, Season 4 #11, Season 5 #15, Season 6 #29). It had a daytime run on CBS in 1977. This was followed by it's debut in off-network syndication in Fall of 1981 by Telepictures. Most stations aired the show in latenight after the first few months. Now the show is seen mostly in international markets or on independant stations. PAX TV ran the series briefly in the late 90's. A DVD with 24 episodes was released in 2005 and features lots of great bonus features. Here's Lucy Season sets will be coming out starting with Season One in August 2009, Season Two in November 2009, Season 3 in mid 2010 and continuing until Dec 2012 with the entire series to come out on MPI video. The DVDs will have a ton of special features.

Here's Lucy not up to Par with other Lucy shows

Being a Lucial Ball fan I must be honest and say this is by the far the worst of her three shows. I love Lucy was a classic possibly the best sitcom ever. The lucy show as very good although inconsistent at times. However by the time of Here's Lucy I found the show had become stale for many of its episodes even at times horrible. If you watch the show closely you see Lucy is often glancing at cue cards. Alot of the sequences had been done before in previous Lucy shows such as the famous episode with Richard Burton and Liz Taylor when lucy's ring is stuck on her finger and she uses one of her arms as Liz taylors arm. I just finished watching a horrible episode with Samy Davis Jr from Season 3 that made little sense and had Sammy butchering a Blood Sweat and Tears song for five minutes. If you like the show however the DVD releases are very well remastered with plenty of extras.moreless

Here's Lucy Is Still Lucy!

Despite the review calling the first season a bit dismal, the first season (which is available on DVD) of Here's Lucy has some brilliant episodes, particularly Lucy the Process Server and Lucy the Fixer. In the former, she must deliver a summons to a feisty old lady and in the latter, she and Gale Gordon offer one of the funniest scenes of physical comedy I've seen when both attempt to locate a wire inside a wall. You must see these two episodes if any of the first season.Critics can suck it! Lucille Ball was and is an American treasure and I'll never forgive that she died heartbroken over critics turning on her and a network cancelling her after all of her brilliant work that has endeared her to fans for decades.moreless

I never get tired of watching Lucy. No matter how bad things seem, just watch Lucy and you will feel better. One of a kind, a total original and never a dull moment.moreless

Here's Lucy is so enjoyable and silly, you can't help but feel good. Gale Gordon is brilliant as the ever suffering brother-in-law Harrison Otis Carter aka Uncle Harry. Together they bring joy and laughter and true fun to the small screen. Lucie and Desi Jr. join in and together the ensemble is wonderful. A definite classic.

This series has always been one of my favorites. I wish we would see more of this in syndication. I can never get enough Lucy.

It is hard for me to find fault with anything Lucille Ball does. I am a die hard fan. No matter what she has done I want to see it because it is Lucy & she has always been a favorite of mine. As for Here's Lucy the series does run hot & cold. That's not to say that I don't love it because I do. I just feel that the show was at it's best when Lucy was being portrayed a an intelligent woman who uses unconventional means to get her way, such as in Lucy & Miss Shelly Winters. This is in contrast to the episodes where she is written as a completely incompetent nit wit, such as in Lucy & The Air Force Academy. Both of these episodes have their merit but for me Lucy is always more fun to watch when the humor is derived from her being sneaky as opposed to being stupid. But no matter what the situation Lucy is always a joy to watch. Her comedic timing is impeccable. She truly was a master at her craft and this show is just another example of the genius that was and is Lucille Ball.moreless

Please VOTE for Lucy!!

Now that we have the complete "I Love Lucy" series on DVD and have the upcoming complete release of "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour", we still need full season set releases of:

The Lucy Show

Here's Lucy

and

Life with Lucy.

Please go vote for these dvd releases at www.tvshowsondvd.com!!

It's easy to register and vote. It's completely free and I am sure it makes an impact on DVD releases. I've listed monthly updates on voting stats on www.imdb.com under each of Lucy's shows. Please remember to vote for ALL of Lucy's shows. A TRUE lucy fan needs ALL of her series in their DVD collection. Thanks for the support!moreless

More Info About This Show

Categories

Themes

Classics,
60s

Important:
You must only upload images which you have created yourself or that you are expressly authorised or licensed to upload. By clicking "Publish", you are confirming that the image fully complies with TV.com’s Terms of Use and that you own all rights to the image or have authorization to upload it.

Please read the following before uploading

Do not upload anything which you do not own or are fully licensed to upload. The images should not contain any sexually explicit content, race hatred material or other offensive symbols or images. Remember: Abuse of the TV.com image system may result in you being banned from uploading images or from the entire site – so, play nice and respect the rules!